WELCOME, N.C — Richard Childress hopes to wish Kevin Harvick good luck at the end of 2013 when Harvick walks out of the Richard Childress Racing shop for the last time and joins Stewart-Haas Racing for 2014.

Childress nonchalantly confirmed Harvick’s well-publicized move to Stewart-Haas Monday night. Harvick, meanwhile, did not confirm the move, but he did not deny it when the news broke last October.

Harvick has played a critical role in RCR history as he replaced seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt after Earnhardt was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500.

He has been in a Cup car for Childress ever since (except for one race in 2002 when he was suspended), but told Childress last October that he would be leaving the team in 2014. The news of his departure then broke a few weeks later at Phoenix International Raceway.

“We had a meeting (last year) and he told me his plans, and we discussed what we were going to do in '13 — and he will do well over there at Stewart-Haas and RCR will keep going and we will keep moving forward,” Childress said Monday during the Sprint Media Tour.

“We will see how it comes out. Him and Tony will have a good relationship.”

The 37-year-old Harvick has had a roller-coaster career and a sometimes-rocky relationship with Childress. The highlights include winning the 2007 Daytona 500 and finishing third in the Cup standings in 2010 and 2011.

Harvick also complained often about his team’s performance and talked about leaving in 2009 when his contract was set to expire in 2010. But a strong first half in 2010 changed his mind.

There will be no changing his mind now, although Harvick remained mum on where he would race in 2014.

Harvick has 19 career Cup wins and two Nationwide titles with Childress but will drive for his good friend Stewart in 2014. Stewart won Nationwide races for Harvick’s Kevin Harvick Inc.

Stewart made headlines last year when he jokingly grabbed Harvick’s wife’s butt prior to a Cup race in a video that went viral.

“It's been a great journey. … Change can be bad but for the most part, when you have change, the enthusiasm level goes through the roof and you want to do well,” Harvick said at the RCR shop.

“Sometimes you just want a change of pace and that's just kind of where I was.”

Harvick said he believes he can manage this season well despite the pending departure.

“I have a lot of respect for Richard and the organization,” Harvick said. “You don't want to leave that black mark on that as you leave.

“You want to do it with as much class and everything that comes with being classy about it as you can. We're going to race. We're all racers.”

Childress agreed. Harvick won the Cup race at Phoenix just two days after his move became public — a day when Childress was fuming that the news had leaked and when Harvick hastily exited the garage area, dodging reporters’ questions about his pending move.

“I am going to wish him well,” said Childress, who said he knew Harvick was talking to other teams before Harvick told him he wouldn’t return in 2014. “All I want to do is win this championship and when he leaves, I want him to leave on a high note.

“I don't know the reasons. It could have been contracts. I want to have a long-term friendship with Kevin even after this is gone.”

Childress said sponsor Budweiser has not told him whether it would remain with the team in 2014. He said he would like to have grandson Austin Dillon in a Cup car in 2014 but wouldn’t say whether he would replace Harvick.

“(Harvick) was what we needed at the time when we lost Dale Earnhardt,” Childress said. “Now that he’ll leave, we will find another driver to put in and carry RCR on.”

Childress admits that he and Harvick have had their disagreements but is optimistic that they will have a great year.

“We'll make it,” Childress said. “It's going to be tough. We both committed to each other that we're going to make this a positive year and a positive end.

“We had a great career together and we want to make this last year a great ending.”